China June 6-7

After a lovely (but thankfully short) stint in a Chinese hospital, my stomach completely rebelled against the food, heat and whatever else and I found myself completely full of ick...and sick in the streets of Guangzhou. Let me say that I was slightly underwhelmed by the medical practices of China. I survived, but I am sure the Red Cross will ban me from donating blood for the rest of my life.

After that - some very long bus rides took us into Taishan and Zhuhai. We stayed in a hotel next to a lovely hot springs water park (of sorts). There were all sorts of baths of different temperatures, scents, and botanical additives. It was very interesting - as were the choice of bathing suits (fashion is a bit different in China).

It rained a lot where we were. We went out for a tour of the city and the roads were so overtaken with all the water, we couldn't get back to our hotel. The roads weren't great to start with as they were mostly potholes the size of humans connected with bits of intact pavement. We went to a botanical park with plants grown without soil, plants that recoil with human touch and gigantic pumpkins. Next, we stayed at a rather interesting restaurant waiting for the water to clear. This was not the cleanest place we'd eaten at and the "bathroom" was not the cleanest bathroom, but the whole experience sure was interesting. There was a long row of vendors with all kinds of sea creatures...you pick what looks good and send it over to the restaurant you're at to be prepared. At this point, I was only able to keep rice and tea down, so I watched...which was ok with me.